Book Review: No Uncertain Terms

No Uncertain Terms
by Mark Dittrick and
   Diane Kender Dittrick
ISBN 0-87196-217-9
109 pages; softcover
Facts on File Publications, 1984

Court reporters and captioners are always loaded up with authoritative reference works that can provide the spellings of words. Sometimes, however, curiosity can get the better of you, and you wonder about more than just the spelling. What the heck is the difference between a meteor, a meteoroid, and a meteorite, anyway? This book addresses such questions with authority and with a touch of humor (see the example quote at the end of this article).

If you're the type that's just looking for spellings, this probably isn't the book for you. It's not arranged like a dictionary, and the total number of words is rather scanty. There's probably nothing in here that you couldn't find in Webster's Unabridged.

If, however, you go through a full day deposition of a construction foreman and come home itching to know the difference between concrete and cement, or you spend the day in environmental litigation and come out curious about the difference between a marsh, a bog, and a swamp, then you just may have found your book. It's short, it isn't what you'd call comprehensive, but it's fun to read as well as informative, and that's something worthwhile for budding etymologists (or is it entomologists?).

So, pick up a copy of this, um, softcover? Paperback? Pocket book? Well, whatever it is, browse through the book and once again have your friends wonder whether there really is a requirement that court reporters and captioners be pedantic and anal-retentive. Hmmm. Is "anal-retentive" hyphenated?

"A meteoroid:
Any small particle still traveling through space in search of a suitable atmosphere to end it all in a voidless blaze of -oidless glory, and perhaps go on to greater (maybe even crater) things."

-- From the book